Page:Tales of John Oliver Hobbes.djvu/194

 might drop the burying. It means a whole afternoon every time. When do those awful Divinity students begin work? It seems to me you take far too great pains with them. They are not worth it. Still, as they pay very well, you can't give them up just at present.

"If Lord Middlehurst puts Lionel up for the Junior Devonshire, the entrance fee won't be more than fifty. I forget the exact amount—but it will be such a good thing for him. In one way it is rather an awkward expense just now. I was rather hoping that you and I could manage a little run to Bellagio later on. I need a rest fully as much as you do. There's the dinner-gong.

"P.S.—I want some money for a few bills. Better send a blank cheque."

He read this through and laughed; it reminded him of so many others in the same strain. At one time it would have filled him with bitterness, but now—could he not see Anna on the morrow? He sat down to write: he had a few ideas. This was the first:— Thoughts, when the mind is thrall to some strong emotion, come in a sort of rhythm: it may be said that we think in a rough kind of blank verse. He paused, then wrote rapidly on another slip of paper:—

He read it critically,—frowned,—smiled. It was, at